Allan Saint-Maximin will definitely start working at Al-Ahli, the French wing attacker himself says. In a lengthy farewell letter posted on social media, the 26-year-old striker thanks Newcastle United fans and expresses his pride at the current situation of the Magpies. Newcastle reportedly receives around 35 million euros for his winger.
Saint-Maximin goes according to L’Equipe and RMC Sports earn twelve million euros a year at the Saudi club. On social media, Saint-Maximin comes with a candid word of thanks. “You may think: oh yes, another nice farewell, but the sentiment goes beyond that to me. The passion of the fans made me understand how important it was to give everything. That’s why I didn’t give a shit if I had to play with an injury.”
4 years ago, I wore the Newcastle jersey for the first time. At that moment, I hadn’t realized that not only was I about to become a Newcastle player, but I was also about to become a Geordie. You might think « nice Goodbye message » but the sentiment runs deeper than any words… pic.twitter.com/wA0RsQfEZF
— Allan Saint Maximin (@asaintmaximin) July 29, 2023
“I could have left earlier during the club’s dark days, but I was in love with the club. I wanted to save my club from relegation and I succeeded. I am leaving Newcastle as the club should be and that is my biggest trophy. I will stay watch every game and will be the happiest man alive if you keep winning.”
At Al-Ahli, Saint-Maximin meets some acquaintances from the Premier League. Édouard Mendy and Roberto Firmino were taken over from Chelsea and Liverpool respectively earlier this summer. On Friday, the Saudi club also officially announced that it had signed Riyad Mahrez. The fans of the club from Jeddah can therefore look forward to a very renowned and high-quality attack line. The club also announced on Friday that Matthias Jaissle has been appointed as a trainer. The German coach comes over from RB Salzburg, with whom he won the championship last year.
Saint-Maximin signed with Newcastle in the summer of 2019, which took him over from OGC Nice for eighteen million euros. In the end, the left winger played 124 matches the Magpies, in which he was good for 13 goals and 21 assists. As a youth player, he broke through at AS Saint-Étienne, after which he ended up at OGC Nice in 2017 via AS Monaco, Hannover 96 and SC Bastia.
Questions from Premier League clubs
David Ornstein previously reported from The Athletic that Premier League clubs were planning to knock on the door of the English association with questions about the transfer. That has everything to do with the fact that Al-Ahli is under the same ownership as Newcastle. Since October 2021, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns Newcastle. It is feared that the Saudi club will receive more money the Magpies than what the attacker is actually worth. This way, Newcastle can more easily comply with the Financial Fair Play rules, the English clubs think.
This article is an update of an earlier news item. The comments under the message may therefore be less up-to-date.